Global fight against piracy

The International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) is reporting that the number of serious pirate attacks in 2015 has decreased, however, there is no room for complacency in the global fight against piracy.

Agencies in the South East Asia region continue to crack down hard on pirate gangs, the figures above are still shocking, highlighting the need for even more vigilance and extensive reporting when it comes to incidents.

This year to date there has been in all 154 vessels boarded, 21 attempted attacks and 15 vessels hijacked. A total of 226 crew were taken hostage, 14 assaulted, 13 injured, 10 kidnapped and one killed, the report showed.

Indonesian and Malaysian authorities have been instrumental in arresting, and is some cases prosecuting members of product tanker hijackings, one of the more common crimes of piracy reported on in 2015. These include the members responsible for the Orkim Harmony hijacking.

The greatest number of incidents occurred in Indonesia’s waters with 86 low level episodes. Vietnam followed with 19 also low level incidents.